THREE men were today arrested over the kidnapping and attempted murder of a Liverpool man in Cumbria.

Officers from the force Matrix team - set up to tackle drug, gun and gang crime in Merseyside - raided three addresses this morning in Dovecot, Wavertree, and Litherland with the aim of seizing three men suspected of being involved in the plot to kill the 30-year-old.

The hostage only escaped from the gang when he jumped from a first-floor window in Barrow- in-Furness last year.

At 7am the joint police operation between the Merseyside and Cumbria forces saw the Matrix team target addresses of two of the suspects.

At Clayford Crescent, Dovecot, officers smashed down the door of a semi-detached house to arrest a 20-year-old Merseyside man over the attempted murder.

At the same time, a separate team swooped on a home in Bradfield street, in Wavertree, and arrested another 20-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder.

Officers seized two knives and a quantity of cannabis resin with an estimated street value of #10,000.Police were carrying out extensive searches of the properties that could link the suspects to the attempted murder.

The arrested men will all be taken to Cumbria to be questioned as part of the investigation.

A fourth man was arrested at Clayford crescent on suspicion of assaulting officers during the raid.

He was questioned by Merseyside police today.

'A great success'>

CHIEF Inspector Gary Colquitt, from the Matrix Team, told the ECHO he was very pleased with the success of the morning.

"It's been an extremely successful operation and shows what can be achieved with collaboration between forces to disrupt organised crime across the country," he said.